Weekly ForceCast: February 10, 2012
On the eve of the triumphant return of Star Wars to theaters, listen as Jimmy Mac recounts his whirlwind weekend at Skywalker Ranch's Episode I media junket. Plus, a 104th Wolfpack reunion at Rancho Obi-Wan, and a special announcement from the ForceCast. Guests *Guests go here. Topics *Jason opens the show by joking that he doesn't know if he can be friends with Jimmy anymore, now that his co-host has been to Skywalker Ranch. Jimmy says that he will have full coverage of his trip to California, which included a media event at Skywalker Ranch and several side trips. Jason says that listeners should check the Skywalker Ranch video podcast that was released on Wednesday, February 8th. *Jason brings in WJJG-AM 1530's general manager Matt Dubiel to make a special announcement. After describing the changes he's seen in radio following the advent of podcasting, Dubiel says that his small Chicago radio station will air a special, hour-long version of The Weekly ForceCast at 1pm Central Time. Jimmy says that Chicago-area ForceCast fans will be able to listen to special ForceCast content on their AM band. He also points listeners outside of the Chicago area to WJJG-AM's website, where they can listen to the station live. Jason, Jimmy, and Matt then talk about the evolution of radio, the rise of podcasting, Star Wars fandom, and more. *Jason transitions to discussing the Super Bowl. He and Jimmy talk about Volkswagen's new Star Wars ad, and then Jason tells Jimmy about a Super Bowl-related sports quiz he saw in a newspaper. He adapts the quiz from sports to Star Wars and gives Jimmy the quiz. *Jason asks Jimmy to talk about his Star Wars-filled trip to California. **Jimmy says that, after seeing so much material shot with Skywalker Ranch as the backdrop, he started to recognize the place as he pulled in the driveway. "I started to feel my heart pounding," Jimmy says. Instead of calling Jason as he arrived on Skywalker Ranch property, Jimmy started recording audio of his observations. After Jimmy sets it up, Jason plays this audio for the listeners. **After the clip, Jimmy talks about the Skywalker Ranch Technical Building, learning about Darth Maul's look on The Clone Wars from Joel Aron, becoming a battle droid during a sound studio visit with Matthew Wood, and more. Throughout Jimmy's recap, Jason plays audio clips that Jimmy sets up, including Aron talking about Maul and Wood talking about his sound work. **Jimmy then describes his visit to the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco, where Lucasfilm has its headquarters. Media guests were treated to what Jimmy describes as a "Boba Fett breakfast" featuring a variety of Star Wars-themed food. Jimmy then talks about his tour of ILM, the building's various statues and art, and running into former Ain't It Cool News movie reviewer Drew McWeeny. When Jason and Jimmy spoke to McWeeny in November, he told them that he had been banned from Lucasfilm after posting leaked Prequel scripts on AICN. Jimmy muses that McWeeny's reputation was apparently redeemed following his ForceCast appearance and his series of posts on HitFix.com about showing the Star Wars saga to his kids. **Jimmy moves on to discuss the screening of The Phantom Menace 3D that he saw at Lucasfilm. He shares his thoughts on the 3D conversion, including the podrace (the extended version from the DVD), the look of the 3D CGI characters (Yoda and Jar Jar), and more. He calls it the clearest and most vivid version of the movie that he's ever seen. Jason says that TPM may be the most visually extraordinary film in the saga. He encourages all ForceCast listeners to go see the film on opening weekend and to bring a bunch of friends. The success of the 3D re-release of Episode I will determine the future of Star Wars 3D re-releases, he says. **Jimmy also stopped at Big Rock Ranch to pick up Dave Filoni for a Wolf Pack reunion at Steve Sansweet's Rancho Obi-Wan. The three of them toured the gigantic museum, including the library, a section which Rebelscum's Jay Shepard helped organize. Jimmy says he was awed by the scale of the museum and strongly recommends visiting it. "If you are a Star Wars fan of any measure," he says, "you have to make the trip." Significant quotes *Quotes go here. Audible.com Sponsorship *Visit AudiblePodcast.com/TFN for a free audiobook download.